#<- starting early WOOO

[blufox234isadumbname]

making some designs for the first batch!!

[beeguillotine]

It's!! A Miriam Monday!!!!!

[arytha]

[ID from ALT: A digital fullbody art of my OCs, one of which is Aither, Epoch's Founder in a hooded cloak, and the other is Era as he appears in his first life. Era is positioned mostly with his back to the viewer, prevented from turning fully towards the viewer by Aither, who is gripping his arm. Era's eye, with his face in profile, glances forward. Aither is completely turned away from the viewer, his cloak a blend that starts with white and cream colors on the top, and ends with blended streaky red and blue panels with defined, rounded black edges at the bottom. Era's complexion is more ashen than normal, and he is dressed in the same cream color as Aither, with white pants. The background is white save for a simple pale red and yellow aurora. End ID]

Remember. This is for all of us.

[battlecriesandroses]

straight up "celebrating it". and by "it", haha, well. lets justr say. My birthday.

[yuukimiyas]

good mornin lovebuns!! ♡ ₍ᐢ.ˬ.ᐡ₎ & happy friyay!! WE DID IT!! & as always i am amazed at everyth you’ve accomplished this wk & i am forever so so proud of you!! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡ lets all make this fri a fantastic one!! ILYASM!! <33

[theglassofmiddleearth]

Imagine Being Isekai'ed into KPOP DEMON HUNTERS. (Part 1)

The plane was late. The girls weren’t here and Bobby was freaking out. The crowd gathered outside the arena was rising into a crescendo, in raw anticipation. The tension was palpable, it was as if the energy was fizzling from the fans into the very ground of the stadium.

‘Everyone ready? Lets look alive!’ The man with medium length hair spun around, pointing at everyone, checking on progress. Bobby, the manager of Huntr/x frantically flitted around, looking absolutely frazzled.

‘Okay, ready? Yeah, we’re ready. But where are the girls?’ He frowned, turning around to Y/N. The girl in return, shrugged, her eyes glued into her notebook. She was writing a new song. One just in case Huntr/x decided to do another comeback early. The girl group was known for being random with their timings. This meant it make Y/N's job that much harder.

‘Check their location.' She sighed before looking up.

'Although, it isn't exactly unlike them to be late.’ Y/N shrugged, flicking back through her little black notebook. She wrinkled her nose, slightly concerned for the group's well being.

Y/N knew their little secret, for she was their trump card. You see, Y/N was the ghost writer. The one who made sure all the songs went viral, ensuring that the honmoon remained steadfast in its hold. It wasn't an easy job seeing as the songs had to chart well and actually be enjoyable. However, the girls did have great voices so that made it slightly easier.

‘It shows their plane veering off course?’ Bobby flipped his phone around, shoving it above Y/N’s notebook.

The girl looked up and gave a sly grin.

‘Start the music, they’ll arrive.’

Like comets raining down, the three managed to make it onto stage, half way through the song. Y/N looked out into the cheering crowd from behind the curtains, narrowing her eyes at the thin lines rippling with light. Tonight’s concert would be enough. Just enough to keep the shield up. It would hold until their next comeback after this concert. Right?

--

‘Did we just see gold?’ 

‘Ah! I can’t believe we’re doing it!’

‘It’s so exciting!’

The three cheered, shaking each other in sheer joy.

‘This means we can release our song soon and turn the honmoon gold!’ Rumi cheered.

Y/N gritted her teeth, slightly resentful. It was her song. She was the one who wrote it, slaved over it for weeks to make sure it sounded perfect for the girls.

‘It’s finally time!’ Mira exclaimed

‘Wooo!’ Rumi cheered until her voice suddenly cracked, her cheer suddenly muted. ‘Whoa that was weird.’

‘Do you need some water?’ Y/N mumbled, as the elevator doors opened.

‘Did someone say water?’ Bobby grinned, before gesturing frantically and calling out. ‘Water. Now!’

Y/N sighed, walking out from behind the group, watching how they all were showered in praise. Praise that never seemed to be shared with Y/N. It wasn't as if she was asking for all the credit, however it would be nice to hear a thank you once in a while.

‘What a way to end the world tour! And that guy in the finale who exploded confetti?’

‘Amazing special effects.’ Y/N cut in briskly, side eyeing Mira who returned her glance with a slightly panicked one.

‘Yeah it was super chill. Amazing song writing by the way Y/N.’ He added almost as a sidenote.

Y/N sighed and began to zone out. She didn’t need to be there anymore. It was time to go home whilst the girls decided what to do. Y/N had finished writing Golden two weeks before and Huntr/x had already recorded the song, meaning Y/N could rest. It would be a long time since Y/N was able to go home and get a full nights rest instead of being in the studio, mixing and mastering a new song for Huntr/x.

She trudged her way onto the dark streets where her own penthouse apartment resided. It was one of the perks for owning royalty on all the songs of Huntr/x. At least Y/N had been smart enough to invest in the shares of the company with her money. At this rate? She wouldn’t have to work for the next fifty years if she wanted to. Her retirement was set.

The streetlamps left much to the imagination, however, Y/N was too tired to be wary. The streets here were safe. It was a rich neighbourhood anyways. 

Y/N’s phone pinged.

Golden was being released in an hour.

Well that wasn't the plan. But then, did the girls ever tell her of any plans they had? She gritted her teeth, looking at the notification on her phone.

Was it wrong for her to feel slightly resentful? She could see the lines. She could see what the other girls could see, but she couldn’t harness the spiritual power to create a weapon. Y/N was an anomaly. A failure of a hunter.

She scrolled the comments, phone tightening in her hand as she read through each one. The praise was lavished onto the girls. Mira, Zoey and Rumi. Nothing mentioned her, the song writer, the producer. The reason Huntr/x even had songs to sing.

‘You’re looking awfully tense.’ A smooth, plush, voice noted.

Y/N whipped around, brandishing her phone into the shadows.

‘Who’s there?’ She snarled, eyes darting between the flickering streetlights.

‘Don’t be afraid. This won’t hurt one bit.’ Another voice snickered.

…

A pause.

Then another.

Then ten seconds had passed.

‘Um, what?’ The first voice sounded confused.

‘What am I supposed to be waiting for?’ Y/N shifted her posture, now feeling more confident.

‘Your soul. We were meant to take your soul.’ A deep voice muttered, as five boys stalked out of the shadows separately.

‘What the f-’

‘Who are you?’ The one with black hair, took point, walking towards her with a hungry glint.

‘My mother taught me not to tell my name to strangers.’ She snipped back, studying the new figures walking towards her. They were otherworldly in beauty. Jaws chiselled, faces unblemished and fair.

A flash of purple, jagged lines across skin.

‘You’re demons.’ Y/N deadpanned, facepalming. ‘No wonder you’re all so damn pretty.’

The one with pink long hair and heart shaped bangs snickered, sidling up to her. ‘You think we’re pretty?’ He gave a sickly sweet grin, reaching toward her chin.

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself asshat.’ Y/N slapped away his hand. ‘I’m actually not into pretty boys so don’t even try.’ Her body was tight, poised to jump at any time. Even if she couldn't harness the spirit power, she could fight just as well as the rest of the hunters.

‘Maybe she's more into guys like me.’ The one on her left spoke up, shifting into her line of sight.

Y/N’s eyes traced over the muscled man, her eyes lingering on his revealed abdomen as he stretched.

‘Huh, gym rats. Also not my type.’ She shook her head, turning to leave. ‘I’m not into conventionally attractive men. I don’t share.’ 

‘Who says you have to share?’ 

Y/N jumped slightly, surprised by the man with black hair standing now in front of her.

‘We know you write all of Huntr/x’s songs. It’s how they're so popular.’ The one with purple hair, wrapped an arm around Y/N's shoulder.

‘Don’t touch me.’ She brushed him off, backing away into a wall.

‘Yeah?’ The wall replied.

‘Huh?’ Y/N turned around, only to be met by a wall of solid muscle. ‘OKAY STOP.’ She whisper-yelled. ‘What do you guys want from me? I don’t carry cash.’

'What? We don' want your money.' The one with blue hair chuckled, leaning on a lamp post.

'We want something more valuable.' The tallest said, flicking away his pink bangs.

'And that is?' Y/N narrowed her eyes, suspicious of the group of strange yet alluring men.

‘Write for us. We need a debut single in three days.’ The one who looked like the leader gave a wicked smile.

‘What makes you think I would do that?’ Y/N crossed her arms, tilting her head in a question.

‘Because we can give you what you want. Fame, recognition, power.’ 

'Who says-' Y/N began before falling to her knees, clutching her head.

Unbeknownst to her, the boys hurriedly gathered around her as she fell, the closest catching her before she collapsed on her side.

The outside world was suddenly cut off from Y/N's mind. It was silent.

And then it began.

Pain.

Throbbing pain as visions filled her head. It was searing, as if a hot knife were being twisted. Visions, sounds, memories. This wasn’t her world. This was the world of…

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS.

Part 2

[iamred-iamyellow]

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ Perfect All American

♥ masterlist | request rules | based on this request

♥ pairing: oscar piastri x fem!american!driver!reader

♥ synopsis: you and oscar decided to make your relationship a secret in hopes to not stir up any “conflict of interest” rumors. however, he just couldn’t help being a proud boyfriend when you won your first race for williams as a rookie. 

♥ smau + written - fc: girls on pinterest - none of the pictures are mine

♥ warnings: swearing !!!

♥ a/n: once again, i’m so sorry this took so long for me to write but i really hope it was worth the wait anon <3

-October 2023-

liked by logansargeant, oscarpiastri, susie_wolff and 879,593 more

williamsracing We're incredibly pleased to announce that @/yourusername has signed a three year contract deal with us starting this following F1 season. She will line up alongside @/logansargeant and will be the first woman to drive a Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi in 1976. We are absolutely honored to have you. Welcome to the Williams family 💙

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yourusername its a perfect all american grid

user6 I understood that reference

user5 🦅🦅🦅

user1 USA USA RAHHH 🇺🇸🗽🏈

user8 WOOO

user2 following in susie's footsteps :')

prema_racing we’re so proud of you

yourusername <3

oscarpiastri I’ll see you in melbourne 😉

user12 it’s the wink for me

user4 im gonna miss prema era y/n

user5 @/user4 ok but the trio is back together !!! y/n, oscar, and logan

user6 @/user5 you’re forgetting about fred

user9 fred vesti always the bridesmaid never the bride

user10 need me some williams gear asap

user14 💙💙💙

logansargeant excited to finally have a fellow american on team torque

yourusername me 🤝 logan

alex_albon 😐

georgerussell63 and here I was thinking you were happy to join me at mercedes

user13 I’m a child of the britcedes-sargebon divorce

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

-Williams' Rising Star: Y/n L/n-

Williams has announced that American F2 Champion, Y/n L/n will be making her Formula 1 debut next year alongside Logan Sargeant. She has been making waves in the world of motorsports for over a decade now, and it seems that all of her hard work has finally payed off. She's already been placed in the history books for her impeccable talent on track and her inspiring work off it. Not only has she broken plenty of records in feeder series', but she also contributed to the creation of F1 Academy.

From Long Beach a to Monte Carlo

Early in her karting career Y/n was scouted for the Mercedes Junior Drivers Team and she's seemed to have a close relationship with Toto and Susie Wolff ever since. She uprooted her life from California to London as a young teen, taking a huge risk in hopes to accomplish her dreams.

What does this mean for F1?

With rising representation in all areas of f1, we can hope to see young women getting more opportunities to make their mark on the sport. Let's face it, the future of F1 is female.

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by oscarpiastri, williamsracing, liablock, and 583,502 more

yourusername POINTS?!?!

tagged; @/bah_int_circuit

view comments

williamsracing starting off this year strong!

frederikvestiofficial WOOOO !!!

yourusername WOOOO 🎉

arthur_leclerc way to go y/n

yourusername ty artie my favorite leclerc 😍

charles_leclerc hey ??

user1 @/yourusername what about oscar piastri-leclerc

yourusername I CHANGE MY ANSWER

oscarpiastri I'm so happy for you

yourusername <3

user2 ...

user3 👀

logansargeant lets gooo 💪

yourusername 🦅🦅

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by mclarenracingf1, landonorris, yourusername, and 983,012 more

oscarpiastri maiden win

comments are limited

yourusername never beating the polite cat allegations with that smile

oscarpiastri :]

yourusername I'm so proud of you btw 🫶

oscarpiastri 🫶

landonorris congrats

oscarpiastri thanks mate

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

-Dutch Grand Prix-

"Plan A, Y/n. Plan A," your race engineer said to you on the radio.

"What about plan C? I think it will work," you responded.

"Uhm, as of right now we don't want to risk your position, so plan A, Y/n, plan A." they spoke softly.

"I can hold the tires, I swear. We're already at the back of the pack, we have nothing to lose."

"I think that's the first time I've heard a driver try to argue their way out of the main strategy," Crofty laughed on the broadcast.

"Box, Y/n. Box."

You sighed, thinking you've reached your defeat. You pulled into your pit box and noticed the green ring on the tires.

They're putting you on inters.

They're following your strategy.

You clicked the radio button back on, "Thank you," you screamed to your team.

You were briefed with everything a few days ago, but you couldn't help but come up with your own plan after getting the weather report for the weekend.

The rain was about a minute away now and you begged the team to put you on intermediate tires right at this time. You knew it would be difficult to drive on a barley damp track like this, but if it worked you could be looking at a podium.

You only had to drive a single lap before it started pouring and your plan payed off. Almost the entire grid struggled with their dry tires in the new track conditions, giving you time to create a lead as they had to slow down and pit.

Every lap you completed as race leader made you more anxious than the last. You held your breath as you reached the last corner of the last lap, vaguely able to see the chequered flag. Tears filled your eyes as you crossed the finish line in P1, the Williams garage being shown on the big screen sprinting out to congratulate you.

-

Before you had the chance to jump into the arms of your team, Oscar was running up to you. He picked you up and pressed his soft lips to yours right in front of the cameras. You smiled into the kiss, happy tears still streaming down your cheeks.

He pulled you into a tight hug, "I'm so proud of you. I love you so much," he mumbled into your hair.

"I love you too, Osc." you laughed through your crying.

He pulled away, cupping your face in his hands, and kissing your forehead. You smiled as he wiped your cheeks with his thumbs.

"So... instead of us interacting with each other online to keep our relationship private, you decide to make out with me in public?"

Oscar laughed and hugged you again, "Just enjoy the moment.”

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by kimiraikkonen, sebastianvettel, williamsracing, and 6,394,625 more

F1 Y/n L/n makes history as the first woman to win an F1 Grand Prix and the first win for Williams since 2012. Well done 👏

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yourusername fact is walter white james vowles couldn't have done it without me 🗣️

georgerussell63 so true 🔥

logansargeant LETS FUCKING GOOOO

yourusername RAHHHH

susie_wolff I'm so proud of you 💗

yourusername <3

user7 the way susie was recording her on the podium like a proud mom :')

user8 ROOKIE WIN

user4 🐐🐐

lewishamilton @/yourusername incredible drive today. congrats on the win, it was well deserved

yourusername tysm lew 🫶

jensonbutton thats literally my daughter

youruseranme DAD 🫂

user3 I thought she was supposed to be Toto's daughter...

user6 @/user3 toto, lewis, nico, jenson──they're all related one way or another

user2 family tree is a wreath

mercedesamgf1 all hail queen y/n

user9 y/n to Mercedes 2025 !!!

liked by yourusername, landonorris, logansargeant, and 1,203,284 more

oscarpiastri y/n l/n. my best friend, the love of my life, and a formula 1 grand prix race winner. this is such an incredible achievement and I am so happy for you. I know you are out there inspiring so many young women and I couldn't be prouder. you are the most incredible girlfriend, driver, and person I have ever met. congratulations on the win, you deserve it. I love you ❤️

tagged; @/yourusername

comments are limited

yourusername osccc 🥹 you've been my #1 fanboy since our karting days and I can't thank you enough for all the support you've given me <3 I love you so much

♡ by oscarpiastri

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

end notes: tysm for reading <3 don’t ask me about the real life mechanics behind the tires bc im obviously not qualified for that 💀 i based that scene off of the strategy i use when i play gran turismo and i see the clouds get grey (it’s never failed me)

[daydreaming-nerd]

OMG I need pregnant reader x bat boys

That first one was so good thank you for that!! 🩷🩷

Pregnant Reader x Bat Boys (drabble)

This is part 2 to You Want A Baby?

AN: Ahh this was so highly requested I'm sorry it took so long. Also i've never really done a drabble and this is defiantly too long but I wanted to feed y'all as best I could.

Warnings: Pregnancy (duh), child birth, talks of sex?, not proof read (sry after writing Young Love Old Money 5 last night my hands hurt)

Of course your mates got you pregnant on the first try. They were the three most powerful males in the Night Court.

The day you found out was like any other, you were quietly reading while Cassian and Azriel were in Windhaven and Rhys was busy doing paperwork.

The sickness had been building all day and at finally come to it's precipice.

After about an hour of throwing up you went to see Madja who confirmed you were indeed pregnant.

You wanted to run home and tell Rhys right away but it didn't seem fair to your other two mates

So you warded yourself to keep your scent hidden and waited till Azriel and Cassian got home.

You sat on the edge of the bed the waiting for the boys to come to bed, clad in nothing but my black silk nightgown (this one was a present from Rhys)

The boys stalked in and the picture of me sitting innocently on our shared bed had them taking their shirts off.

It wasn't uncommon for you all to release built up tension after a long hard day, especially when the boys had to deal with Devlon.

"Wait there's something I wanna show you first," you smile standing up.

"Something you want to show us?" Rhys laughed knowing that when it came to the bedroom it was often the other way around.

You couldn't keep from smirking as you let the ward around me drop, my scent filling the room.

They inhaled long and slow before their eyes snapped open.

"You're?" Azriel asked.

"Pregnant," you smile watching as a million emotions float across their faces.

A beat of silence passes and then...

"WOOO HOOO!" Cassian roared. "We did it brothers!" he boasted clapping each of them on the back.

All of them came over to me to give me sniff, as if your new scent was addicting. You had to crane your neck up to meet all their happy faces.

"How far along are you?" Rhys asked caressing my face.

"Not very, only 6 weeks," you. smile feeling their warm hands roam my body.

"Well you certainly smell good," Azriel smiles burying his nose in my hair.

"Really?" you ask.

"YES," they all said in unison.

Cassian's hands find the hem of the night gown and start to lift it up peering underneath curiously.

"Cassain if you even think about putting your dick anywhere near her right now I will fucking kill you," Rhys growls.

"I'm not I'm trying to see if she's showing yet," Cassian said, eyes squinting.

"Cass it's too early for her to be showing," Azriel laughed at his brothers antics.

"Well she defiantly is, take a look." Cassian smiled pulling me flush to him and lifting my nightgown more so his brothers could see.

Rhys and Azriel squinted their eyes, clearly trying to see what wasn't there as Cass slid a hand over my belly.

"Cassian darling I think that's just my dinner," you laugh.

"speaking of dinner did you eat enough?" Rhys asked.

and so it began.

Ever since the boys had found out all chaos had erupted.

At first they wanted you to stay in the townhouse at all times. Literally locking you up and throwing away the key

That idea took you a long time to talk them out of but eventually you did.

Then came Rhys arguing that you needed at least 5 wards. Which Cassian and Azriel objected to as they wanted full access to you AND the baby.

Evetually you all settled on one ward. Strong enough to keep threats at bay, but weak enough so Cass and Az could touch you and your bump whenever they liked.

Speaking of bump, Cassian was determined to do a bump update everyday.

The man was DYING to see you with a bump.

"You think the baby will have wings?" you asked innocently while we all laid in bed.

Every night it was a fight for who got to sleep next to you as you unfortunately had an odd number of mates.

"Of course it'll have wings, look at it's fathers," Azriel smirked rubbing a hand over your belly.

"I don't know I wasn't in my Illyrian form when it was conceived," Rhysand states, his words reverberation through me from where my head was perched on his chest.

"Pfft please, I already told you it's mine," Cassian boasted from behind Rhys, clearly being an instigator since he wasn't getting to sleep next to me tonight.

"Cassian," Azriel warns.

"I know , I know. We don't care who got her knocked up just so long as she IS knocked up," Cassian smirks.

"Okay but what if the baby doesn't have wings?" I ask once more.

"Then we'll fuck another one into you until you have one that does," Rhys smiled pressing a kiss to my brow

"Oh we're putting another one in her either way. I want a whole litter of children." Cassian divuldged.

"You want that princess?" Azriel asked rubbing lazy circles over my barley there bump.

"Yeah I think I do." I smile.

The boys were territorial when you were barley showing, but the second the numerous dresses Rhys bought you couldn't cover the bump that's when things got scary.

The shadows. The fucking shadows

They were fucking everywhere.

Azriel had been freaking out ever since your guys walk the other day.

You had been taking in the fresh air of spring when a unknowing passerby slammed into you nearly knocking you over.

"WATCH IT!" Azriel screamed in his face his grip on the mans shirt like a vice.

The poor shopkeeper just about wet himself before running off.

"Now was that really necessary?" you asked, crumbs falling out of your mouth from the 3rd chocolate croissant you had eaten that day.

"He nearly knocked down my pregnant mate, he's lucky I let him off with a warning," Azriel murmured clearly still pissed.

"You Illyrian babies," I roll my eyes finsishing off the croissant.

Azriel just sighed and dug his hand into the paper sack to pull out my 4th pastry.

Ever since then his shadows seemed to follow you everywhere.

If you dropped something? The shadows would pick it up.

If you had troubles walking? there was always a dark mass helping you to the bathroom for the 10th time that day.

Every time the baby kicked? The shadows swirled around you to make sure you were okay.

And boy did that baby kick...

Cassian was the first to feel it.

It was a rainy night at home, Cassian was sleeping next to your belly whispering sweet nothings to it when it happened. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and you nearly did too from the pain.

"Ahh!" you hissed in pain.

"Darling what is it? Are you hurt?" Rhys fussed, leaving his desk to be there in an instant.

"What did you do?" Azriel growled at Cassian who was still staring wide eyed at your bump.

"I'm fine he didn't do anything. The baby is just kicking." I grit out feeling another thump.

I blindly reach out and grab one of my mates hands and press it to my stomach.

I watched as the scarred hand flinched at the kick.

"Oh my god I can feel it," Azriel beamed, his eyes glassing over.

"Move I want to feel," Rhys ordered

Azriel was too hypotized to care.

"I am your High Lord, move" Rhys ordered once more and I swear the room shook.

"I'm getting kinda tired of that phrase too aren't you Cass?" Azriel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah she's our mate too," cassian grumbled.

They spent the night taking turns getting to feel the baby which became a nightly occurrence.

Out of all your mates Rhys was the most doting. He had an entire wing built onto the townhouse for the baby.

He even used his magic to enchant the ceiling of the nursery to look like the night sky so it would be starfall in there every night.

Rhys didn't like to admit it, but he loved baby shopping with you.

"Oh Rhys look at this one can we get it?" you smile holding up a little onesie.

"Yes darling of course," he chuckled in amusement, he had probably heard that phrase a million times.

Your eyes scanned the shop of onesies and cribs, you already nearly everything in the store. But the shop owner always made sure to let you know when there was a new shipment as she knew Rhys would buy his pregnant mate just about anything she asked for.

"Oh my god Rhys please the baby is going to need this," I shout holding up the bat plushy. "Please, please, please, pleaseeeee"

Rhys laughs walking over to me to take my hands in his.

"Darling how many times do I have to tell you? You can have whatever you want." he smiles placing a hand on my bump and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

Fae labor was no joke, there wasn't a single aspect that didn't hurt like hell.

Rhys didn't send Cassian or Azriel away on any missions in the weeks leading up to your due date so they could be there.

Your water broke when you were standing in the kitchen reaching for a glass on the top shelf.

The scream you let out is enough to have Cassian running in from the other room.

"What is it princess? Are you okay?" He asked kneeling down to where I sat on the floor.

"The baby is coming," I winced through the pain, taking Cassian's hand in mine and squeezing with all my might.

That was the good thing about having big, strong Illyrian's as mates. They were fucking durable.

"oh shit," Cassain murmered his eyes searching for some kind of answer of what to do. "RHYS! AZRIEL! THE BABY IS COMING!"

My other two mates winnowed there are lighting speed from where ever they were in the house.

It wasn't long until Rhys had me in his arms winnowing us all to Madja.

"Help her please," he pleaded, my cries of pain clearly affecting him.

Madja had Rhys bring me into the birthing suite and lay me down. I could see the worry on all my mates eyes as they watched me write in pain, sweat grazing my brow.

"How can we help?" Azriel pleaded.

"You can't, you must leave us to work," she said referring to the other healers already pressing cold towels to my face.

"Over my dead body do I leave her side right now," Cassian grumbled.

"Do you want her to die? You'll only be in the way general. Use your head." she argued ushering them out and locking the doors.

The hours in between the closing of the doors and finally giving birth were brutal, not only for yo but for your mates.

They sat outside the door and listened to your screams the entire time.

Azriel nearly ripped his hair out from the sounds of them.

They nearly jumped to their feet at the sound of a baby crying from inside.

But then they heard you a screaming again.

Any happiness died out.

After a few minutes they heard the baby crying again and your screams stopped.

15 minutes later Madja came out holding not one but two small bundles in her arms.

"congratulations, you are the proud fathers of two healthy baby boys," she beamed.

Twins

Rhys and Cassian took the twin boys in their arms, as Azriel was too scared to touch them at first.

"They have wings," Cassian beamed running his hand over the tiny wings.

"Is she?" Rhys asked Madja.

"The mother is perfectly healthy. She needs to nurse the babies, but she insisted that I bring them to you first." Madja smiled.

"can we see her?" Azriel asked.

"Of course you can," Madja said.

The boys carried the twin babies in to see you once more.

You reached out your hands for the one in Rhys arms, the oldest, by a few minutes. He gave him to you and thankfully he latched right away.

"You did so well mate," Azriel said placing a kiss on your forehead.

"How did you boys manage to put twins in me on the first try?" You rasped out, voice still horse.

"If you recall it was no small feat," Cassain smiled.

After feeding them both you slept soundly.

While Cassain and Rhys might've been the first to hold your sons, Azriel was the first one to fall asleep with them. One in each arm.

Taglist: @crystalferret202, @nickishadow139, @eerievixen, @why4anne, @loglady00, @heartless-tate, @callsigns-haze, @fxckmiup, @highladyivy, @highladyivy

Permanent taglist: @fides25

[w2soneshots]

Could I do a Chrismd request? Maybe where they meet either jogging one day or their indoor climbing club and they eventually get together.

Thanks :)

Coffee? -ChrisMD

words: 0.8k+

warnings: none.

summary: you and Chris pass each other every week on your runs, one day he decides to finally ask you out.

notes: hello lovely💞 This is my first ChrisMD fic, wooo! I hope you enjoy and thank you for being patient with me, I’m trying desperately to find the motivation to write!!🏃‍♀️‍➡️✨

I woke up early this morning for my usual Saturday morning run in London. It was not particularly warm but thankfully there wasn't any rain or wind and once I get my body moving I always warm up anyway so I picked out an outfit accordingly.

I shivered slightly as I stepped out of the glass doors of my apartment building before plugging in my earphones and getting started. I always love starting my Saturday's this way since it helps to clear my head, plus I usually see the cute boy that lives in the apartment building two streets away from mine.

I know that because I've seen him leave multiple times in the last few months. I've been tempted to ask for his number but I always chicken out. Though every once and awhile I catch him looking my way when we pass by each other.

After a good fifteen minutes of running/jogging around London I see him coming towards me. My heart rate spikes. I put on a friendly smile and he returned it. I was slightly disappointed that he was still yet to say anything so I decided to take matters into my own hands, hopefully he doesn't have a girlfriend.

I stopped and turned around. He's already walking towards me. "Oh my god. Oh my god." I thought, mind racing. I quickly remove my earphones. "Hi, uhm... I'm Chris," he says. "y/n," I replied.

It was silent for a moment before he spoke up. "I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to get a coffee after your run, if you're free?" I nodded softly. "I'd like that. Meet you outside waterlow park in an hour?" "Yeah, great. See you then... y/n." He waved softly before turning around and jogging off. I let out a light, content sigh. Finally.

I swiftly finished my run and headed back to my apartment to clean up. I took a quick shower, did my hair then put on a casual outfit. By the time I was done it was almost time for us to meet.

I'd chosen the park that was located between our apartments so it was only a short walk. As I approached I saw that Chris was already stood waiting, which I was glad about.

"Hey," he said, with a cute smile spread across his lips. "Hi, where did you wanna go?" I asked. "Is he a starbucks or a cosy little café kinda guy?" I wondered. "I always go to this café ten minutes from here," he said. That answered my question. "Great, lead the way."

We made small talk as we walked. He asked how long I'd been running for and we briefly discussed the fact we'd seen each other so many times but never shared more than a friendly smile.

When we reached the café, which was tucked right on the corner of the street, we headed inside and both ordered a coffee. I was surprised I hadn't ever realised it was there but I was glad he'd shown me it since it was actually really cute.

We sat down opposite each other on one of the small tables at the front of the shop next to the window. "So... favourite colour?" He asked jokingly. I breathed out a chuckle. "I hate that question." I was hoping I wouldn't have to hear it for a while, since I was really starting to like Chris.

It took just a few weeks before we were quite comfortable with each other. We would regularly do our runs together since they fell around the same time but tonight I'm going round to his apartment for the first time to order a take out and watch a movie.

I put on some comfortable clothes, threw my hair up, grabbed a bottle of wine that I'd bought especially and walked the five minutes to his place.

I rang the doorbell and he answered soon after. I smiled softly at him as he welcomed me inside. "Wow, this is really nice," I complemented as I stepped in. His apartment was clean and quite cosy, kind of like the coffee shop.

We both sat down after he grabbed some glasses and poured us both some wine. I got comfy as he scrolled through netflix. This was exactly the kind of dates I enjoyed.

About an hour and a half into the movie (which ended up being Harry Potter) and after the takeaway had arrived and been eaten we sat close to each other, thighs touching and his arm around my shoulder. I could barely focus.

Though nothing else happened until it was time for me to leave, as it was now late and pitch black outside. I stood by the door, ready to go when Chris stopped me.

"Uh- before you go..." he began. I was hoping that he was doing what I thought he was doing. He leaned closer, his hand moving down to my hoodie covered waist. It was silent for a few moments longer before I closed the gap, connecting our lips for the first time.

When we both pulled away we shared a content smile. "Thank you for tonight, I'll see you soon?" I broke the silence. "Yeah, yeah. I'll text you." I nodded softly then waved slightly as I walked out of the door.

I was very excited to see him again and had a really good feeling about where this was going.

[unhappycylinder]

Hi! Love your writing. Not to jump on the bandwagon, but I was just wondering if I could request something from dps with a female reader. I’m sorry if this is cliche, but I was thinking of a scenario where the reader jokingly says she can take Meeks in a fight, and so they start playfully “fighting”. And a bit into it Meeks is like “alright, that’s enough.” and pins her down to get her to stop. Then she’s like “my bad, you are strong”, and kind of flirting so he’ll get embarrassed and then she can take him by surprise and “win”. Then some cheesy romance smoochy stuff comes in at some point. I have no clue, that’s just my idea, lol. Thanks, love!

Sorry this took me so long, I hope you love it!

Meeks x fem!Reader

wc: 900

“If you were stranded on a deserted island,” Charlie stared up at the ceiling, uniform shirt half unbuttoned as you and the rest of the poets lounged in Neil and Todd’s room, “which one of us would you want to bring with you?”

Summer had come early this year, and trapped within the brick walls of Welton Academy wasn't exactly the ideal place to escape the heat. Mr. Nolan was, of course, still enforcing school policy and making you all spend your study hours inside, so you and the poets were trying anything in your power to distract yourselves from getting heat stroke.

The boys murmured amongst themselves as they pondered Charlie’s question.

“Y/n.” Pitts said assuredly.

A hum of approval settled over the group.

“Hello?” Meeks whined, “why not me?”

“Well,” Pitts stuttered, “I mean Y/n is just like…stronger”

“Stronger?” Meeks squealed in offense, “she’s a girl…I could take her any day.”

“Oh yeah?” You turned to him quickly, brows furrowing.

“Yeah, duh,” he said, red curls bouncing over his glasses as he nodded his head.

“Alright,” you began rolling up your sleeves, standing up from the floor and turning to Meeks, “let’s settle it then.”

Offering him your hand, Meeks stood up, glancing around the room as the rest of the poets sat up from their respective lounging positions to watch the ‘fight’.

“I can’t hit a girl…” Meeks began.

“No backing down now, Meeksy, you started this, you finish it.” You playfully jab at his arm.

You swear you could hear him mutter an ow before rubbing his arm. 

“Come on,” you repeated as you slapped and punched his arms, his head already dangling in defeat.

“Alright,” he locked eyes with you, “that’s enough.”

The next thing you knew you were pinned to Todd’s bed, Meek’s hands grasping your wrists above your head as he breathed heavily above you.

“Wooo” Charlie exclaimed from the other bed, the other boys dead quiet as their eyes locked on the two of you in such an intimate position. 

Blood filled your cheeks as you stared up at Meeks, a smirk appearing on your lips as butterflies began to churn in your stomach, “wow, you are strong after all.”

His eyes trailed up your face until they locked with yours, a blush finding its way to his cheeks as well.

He began to smile as his eyes remained locked with yours, but only for a moment before yours darkened and you switched positions. Straddling his waist, you pinned his hands down above his head as he stared at you wide-eyed, mouth agape. 

The other boys gasped, silence falling over the room as tension erupted between you and Meeks. He tried to speak but no words came out, just more and more blush on his cheeks.

You held his wrists down firmly, leaning forward just enough that your faces were inches apart. His breathing quickened, and for a moment, you could feel his heart racing beneath you. The room remained dead silent, but you barely noticed the others anymore, the space between you and Meeks pulsing with something unspoken.

"Didn't think you'd go down so easily," you teased, voice low, letting a playful smirk tug at your lips.

Meeks swallowed hard, his eyes darting between your face and the ceiling as if he were searching for a way out, but he was clearly flustered. "I... I wasn't exactly trying," he finally stammered, his voice shaky but laced with a hint of amusement.

"Oh?" you tilted your head, leaning in even closer. "Maybe I’m just stronger than you after all."

You could feel his body tense beneath yours, and as he let out a breath, something shifted between the two of you—an unspoken connection that wasn't just about play-fighting anymore. You let go of his wrists, placing your hands on his chest just long enough to feel the rapid rise and fall of his breath.

"You've definitely proved your point," Meeks whispered, eyes now soft, searching yours for something more than just a playful sparring match.

Your teasing smile faded, replaced with something more sincere as the playful moment transformed into something... unexpected. For a second, you both just stared at each other, the world outside of the bed disappearing entirely.

Then, as if breaking the spell, Todd’s voice cut through the silence. “Uh… you two okay over there?”

You blinked, realizing you were still sitting on top of Meeks. You quickly climbed off him, flustered but laughing it off. "All good," you replied, standing up and giving him one last smirk. "I think I’d uh…I’d probably want to be on that island with me too."

Meeks sat up, still blushing, but he managed a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'll, uh, second that."

Charlie snickered from the other bed, breaking the tension in the room as the other boys finally exhaled, and the laughter spread. But even with the joking and chatter filling the air again, you couldn't help but notice Meeks stealing glances at you, his eyes lingering a little longer than usual.

And you found yourself doing the same.

[master-gatherer]

They're letting us out early 🥳

Literally showed up at work and the power's been out for a couple hours by now

[herlv3r]

yes or no

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.

୨୧ synopsis: your best friend, yunjin, constantly expresses her attraction towards you. as her best friend, you struggle and question whether she’s being serious or not. it's not easy as your lingering feelings for the girl doesn’t help either, when her actions and words only feed your delusions. 

୨୧ pairing: bestfriend!yunjin x fem!reader

୨୧ genre: fluff

୨୧ a/n: been obsessing over yes or no because it makes me feel things. listening isn't enough, i need it in my soul. sorry if there's mistakes, i proofread like once lol. anyway first fic finally done wooo!

you've known yunjin for awhile, and you just can't wrap your head around when she began acting like this. the sweet nicknames, loving gestures, constant physical touch. you're not complaining but you shouldn't allow yourself to give in to her wicked spells.

a knock is heard on your door. "yeah, come in," a tall ginger walks into your room and closes the door gently behind her. "hi pretty girl," she looks in your direction and walks towards your bed with a cute eye smile. you gawk at her too long for your liking.

you snap out of her trance, "hi jen what's up?" she stops and flops her whole body down on your bed, slightly wrinkling your sheets beneath her. "mhmm, nothing much. i just wanted to ask if your busy." you giggle at her action, admiring how comfortable she is around you. she stares at you waiting for your response. "why bother asking me when you already know my answer?" you give her a confident look as you raise your brow.

"oh yeah right, forgot you don't have any friends other than me." you sat on your chair, dumbfounded and disbelieving with what just came out of her mouth. you pout at her, tears forming in your eyes. she bursts out laughing at your cute reaction. "ahh, you're so cute." she gets up from her position and heads towards you.

heat rushes through your face as she approaches closer. she forces you up and fixes your hair. "awh, i'm sorry baby." that was the final straw, you thought to yourself. it's unfair honestly. you hate feeling vulnerable especially for something you can't control. you don't even remember when you developed feelings for the taller girl. all you know is that you realized it too late that cupid slapped you right in the face, when you found yourself blushing even with the lightest touch from the ginger. you've held on hiding it deep down, but you don't know whether that's something to be proud of.

she snaps her fingers in front of your face, trying to get you out of your thoughts. "hey, you okay?" you come back to your senses, as you walk past her heading somewhere that's not in her proximity, but you can't avoid her forever. "yeah i'm fine"

she pulls out two tickets from her jacket's pocket, waving it in the air, "since you're not busy... how bout we go see a drive-in movie?" you thought, for the sake of your own feelings, you should turn her down. but at the end of the day, you're still her best friend. you force a smile, "sure thing!"

as you entered her car, you noticed how prepared she was. a neatly folded blanket rests on the backseats, along with a picnic basket and two bottles of sparkling drinks. smells good you thought. you secure the seat belt around you and get comfortable on your seat. "soo, what's the movie going to be?" she smiles brightly at you as she starts the engine. "mhm you'll see."

you both sat in comfortable silence for awhile, until she pulls up in an empty parking lot with a big screen in the middle. "where's everyone else?" yunjin turns to you and a slight smirk forms on the corner of her plump lip. "i don't know, i guess we're early?" you look at her with a suspicious face. "girl.. you're not planning on killing me right" she lets out a loud laugh, "pfft shut up, of course not."

she exists the car first, jogging around the front to reach your door before you stepped out. she opens the door for you while bowing as if you were a princess getting off your chariot. you chuckle, "thank you pretty lady." she winks at you in response.

you shiver as the cold night breeze passes through the thin fabric of your shirt. without a word, yunjin immediately removes her jacket and covers you up with its warmth. the scent of her perfume engulfs your senses causing butterflies to kick in. you stare at her gathering everything from the backseat as your cheeks turn bright red.

"jen this is honestly so freaky. you sure we're at the right place?" she drops everything, and intertwines your hands as she smiles. "it's okay, trust me, just relax." you listen to her and wait until she finishes setting up.

"okay sit please~" you look around and admire the scenery she created. you turn to face her "wow jen.. it's so pretty, you did so good." a slight blush of pink appears on her cheeks, "are you cold? do you want your jacket back?" attempting to remove it, she stops you and awkwardly coughs, "no it’s okay, keep it on." she shifts her body closer to you. “thought it’s a good idea to share body heat,” she gives you a small wink. your body stiffens as she leans even more closer.

eventually, the film started rolling. you smacked yunjin’s arm after realizing it’s your favourite ghibli film that’s being projected. she jokingly winces from your sudden action. you give her a side eye, “you think your slick huh, yunjin". she hums in response.

as the credits play out, she takes your hand and plays with your fingers. “so.. did you enjoy today?” you let out a tired sigh. she looks up at you. “what’s wrong?” your gaze glued to her eyes, not knowing how to explain that she’s the problem from the very beginning. how her small gestures and words freezes the time around you. how her genuine smiles turns her eyes into crescent moons and the silly faces she makes whenever she tastes something delicious. everything about her makes you feel like you’re a ticking time bomb ready to explode any second. however, she’s your best friend. it’s harder to let her go than to dump all your feelings on her. when in reality, she probably only sees you platonically.

“nothing, i’m just a little worn out,” you force a reassuring smile. “okay then, let’s get you home before you pass out,” she pats your head. as you both got up, you stop her and pull her into a hug. you feel her stiffen around your arms but she eventually wraps her arms around your waist, drawing you in closer. “thank you jen, i mean it,” you say into the hug. she grips the fabric of your clothes, “anything for you.” you let go of her embrace, knowing if you’ve held on longer you’ll combust. after packing up, you entered her car and sat in comfortable silence again.

shortly after she pulls into your driveway and parks her car. she gazes at you but doesn't say anything. you should say something, you thought. but your throat's dry and you can't spit anything out. "have a good night honey," her sweet nicknames again, but she sounds a little disappointed. "you too jen, and drive safe." you got out of the vehicle but felt like she expected something more from you.

before you could walk any farther, she gets out of her car and grabs you by the arm. "i'm sorry.. i.." you just stare at her, confused. is there something she needs? did you take something from her? she just sighs. "god.. you're so oblivious aren't you?" she lets go of you. she takes her hands and ruffles her perfect orange hair out of frustration. "what are you talking about." you stood there dumbfounded. "i call you all these cute nicknames, i let you be my passenger princess, i take you out on dates, i cancel all my plans just so i can spend my time with you. but why can't you still see it.." you just stare at her. she sighs heavily. "why can't you see... that i like you?"

a blush of pink immediately rushes on your face and you feel like steam is escaping from the top of your head. you couldn't process what came out of her pretty lips. she likes you. did you hear that right? you pull her in a tight hug. "you're an asshole" you smack her back. "for the longest time.. you made me feel all these feelings for you thinking that if i did something with them, i'd lose you." she lets out her cute chuckle as she wraps her arms around you. your heart loosens, letting go of that burden you hold of crushing on your best friend.

she gently pats your head, "soo.. will you go out with me?" you let her go and fix her hair, "yes, of course." a big grin forms on her face and takes your hand, leading you to your door. "okay, i'll call you later." a dumb smile creeps on your face. "yup, drive safe jennifer." she leans forward with her cheek facing towards you. "a kiss on the cheek will protect me," she smirks. you lean forward about to kiss her until she quickly turns her head, connecting your lips with hers.

you pull back and smack her arm. "wow! you witch." you both burst out laughing. "okay, okay now get in." as you slip inside and close the door, you watch her pull out the driveway and drive off. you lean your back against the door and flop to the ground, punching and kicking the air with excitement.

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

@steddiemas week 2 - Lights, Mistletoe, Tradition, Red

rating: T | words: 1,649

wooo right in before the deadline lmao

<- back to previous part | next part ->

Steve knocks on the Munsons’ door at 10 the next morning. It’s only after he does, however, that he thinks that maybe Eddie won’t even be up yet, that he won’t be up for a couple more hours at least, despite what he said after dinner the night before;

“Gotta be up bright and early, Stevie dear, Wayne’s taking a double and someone’s gotta put up the tree.”

“You’re decorating already?”

“Sure am! It’s tradition to put the tree up the day after thanksgiving. Wanna come over and help?”

But, to his surprise, Eddie opens the door mere seconds after he’d knocked, the sounds of the local radio station’s Christmas music selections spilling out the door behind him.

“Finally,” he says, leaving the door open and turning to march back to an already open green tote in front of the couch.

“Sorry man, I honestly didn’t think you’d be up.” he laughs, following Eddie into the trailer. He kicks the snow off his boots in the doorway, toes them off, and closes the door behind him.

Looking around, Steve notices the already somewhat cramped space is more cramped now with the addition of a large cardboard box, a surprising number of rolls of wrapping paper in different stages of use, a pile of lights, and two plastic tubs, a green and a red, all spread out across the floor.

“What is all this stuff?”

“Our Christmas shit, duh.” Eddie says, bent in half over the tote and digging around at the bottom.

Steve takes the shortest moment to admire the view (A guy can have a crush on his relatively new, much-cooler-than-him friend if he wants to, alright?), then says, “Yeah Ed, I got that part, I mean, what is it all? What’s in the totes?” then walks over to the red tote and lifts off the lid.

A mess of ornaments awaits him under it; all of them loose, gold, green, red, and glittering.

“That one’s ornaments, this one’s garland, I think the tinsel’s in here too…?” more digging sounds.

“Why are they all just… loose?” Steve asks, picking up a green teardrop ornament. He’s used to his mother’s rigid everything has its place style of packing away the decorations every year, each fragile glass bauble having its own box or assigned spot in a big plastic tray… not like she’d been around to do the setup or take down the last couple years, but old habits die hard.

“Well it’s not like they’re gonna break, they’re all plastic.”

Steve scoffs a short laugh, shaking his head, “Alright, Munson, where do you wanna start?”

They start, of course, with the big cardboard box that holds the Munsons’ tree.

“You have an aluminum tree?” Steve asks with barely-hidden awe as he reads the red and green Evergleam Stainless Aluminum Christmas Tree on the side of the box. He’d always thought they were pretty, but his mom refused to have one in her home, said they were tacky (not to mention not nearly tall enough).

Eddie sighs, “Yeah, not what I woulda picked but,” he shrugs, pulling what looks like the stem of the tree out of the box, “Beggars and choosers and all that.”

“I think they’re great.” Steve says, taking the pole from Eddie.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I dunno, they’re so… shiny. So Christmas-y, y’know?”

Eddie gives him a look, but smiles, “Sure, I can see that.”

The two get to work, snapping the base and column of the tree together, then placing each of the branches into the holes dotted up and down the stem.

Eddie starts to pull the paper sleeves off the branches as he goes, and Steve finds himself entranced by finagling the spindly aluminum strips to look more tree-like.

He doesn’t know how long he spends wearing circles into Wayne’s carpet, but soon, Eddie comes to his side and asks, “Ready for the lights, Stevie?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, yeah, sorry man.” he says, stepping back from the tree only to reach back out and fix the needles he brushed up against getting out of the way.

Eddie smiles, then drops to his hands and knees to crawl along the side of the couch to plug in the lights Steve now sees have been laid up and down the length of the living room and kitchen.

“You guys don’t have that spinny light thing?” He asks Eddie’s ass, then immediately regrets it. ‘Beggars and choosers and all that’. “I mean, uh..”

The warm white lights flicker on as Eddie shouts “Gotcha!” and shuffles backward, sitting up on his knees when finally free of the branches. Somehow, there’s tinsel in his hair now. Where’d that even come from??

“We do, actually, but it’s always been finicky. Pros of a ‘non-flammable’ tree means we don’t try to make things more flammable with untrustworthy motorized light doohickies, right?”

Steve blinks at him. “Did you just say ‘doohickies’?”

Eddie grins, “If I’m gonna quote Wayne, I’m gonna do it correctly.”

“Fair.” He laughs, holding out a hand for Eddie to take. Grabbing tight, Eddie heaves himself up off the floor.

“Alright big boy, you get to stringing those ones,” He says, pointing to the white lights, “While I untangle the other ones.” He picks up the other mess of lights triumphantly, a big grin still on his face.

It’s only then, when Eddie lets him go to pull at the lights, that Steve realizes he’d still been holding Eddie’s hand.

Steve gets the lights strung up around the little tree, and is rewarded with another good long look at Eddie’s backside while he plugs in the now untangled multicolored lights.

These ones are more familiar to him, “Hey, my grandma has these!” Steve says cheerily, examining the plastic petals around each light.

“Must be a grandma speciality, then.”

“Oh yeah? You a grandma, Ed?” Steve asks, carefully winding the lighted flowers back and forth across the tree.

Eddie snorts, “All this stuff was my grandma’s. Wayne got it when she died.”

Steve feels his face fall. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

He glances up to see Eddie shrug, “She was before my time, but thanks.”

Eddie lets Steve work while he starts to dig through the totes; he’s got half the tote of greenery spilled out onto the floor by the time Steve goes to the other and starts to pick out ornaments.

He figured with a shiny silver tree like this that the gold ones wouldn’t look quite right, but the combination of color from the lights somehow makes it so only the gold would look right.

He’s pulling out the different shaped gold baubles when Eddie finds something.

“Ooh mistletoe~, how ‘bout it Stevie, you gonna lay one on me?” he croons, sidling up to Steve with one arm stretched above them.

“Shut up man,” Steve laughs, pushing him away on instinct alone and going back to the tote of ornaments.

Immediately, Steve can hear Robin’s voice in his head; “No! What are you doing?? You could’ve had your first boy kiss before my first girl kiss and you said NO? To EDDIE??”

Unaware of his turmoil, Eddie cackles good-naturedly as Steve’s heart thumps achingly in his chest.

He can’t help but imagine it, what it would’ve been like to take Eddie up on the offer, to just grab him up and plant one on him like he’s been wanting to for what, a good eight months now?

He’d kiss him, he’d blush all pretty, Steve’d say something corny and flirty and endearing, and Eddie would grin that big stupid grin at him and—

“Steve!”

Spell broken, Steve looks around at Eddie, standing over the faded tote with the scraggly-looking sprig of greenery still hanging from one of his fingers.. “What?”

Eddie shakes his head almost disbelievingly, “Whatta you mean ‘What?’? You’re the one zoning out in the middle of my living room, man.” He laughs, but it and his eyes are strained.

“Oh sorry, yeah. Just zoned out, promise.”

That seems to loosen Eddie up, “Okay, good.” He sighs, drops the mistletoe onto a cushion of the couch, and dives back in for two armfuls of garland.

Steve hangs ornaments on the tree while Eddie does his best to scare the shit out of him at every moment; he climbs up and all over the counters, the couch, Wayne’s recliner, all just to hang the garland around the cabinets and along the front of the shelves packed with mugs.

Eventually, they’re done.

The tree is lit, the garland is pinned in place where it won’t send any mugs careening down onto the couch below, every inch of the Munsons’ space is decked out and the unused decorations are being packed away into their totes.

“Last chance, big boy,” Eddie says, wiggling the fake plastic plant and his eyebrows at Steve.

He barks a short laugh and shakes his head fondly, and Eddie goes back to packing away the rest of the garland that was wrapped up in his other hand.

For a split moment, as he snaps the lid back onto his own tote, Steve wonders over his options, but knows he’ll regret it if he doesn’t seize the moment.

He turns away from the red tote of ornaments, takes the three short steps to Eddie’s side, and plucks the mistletoe from Eddie’s hand.

Eddie, who turned automatically when he did, flushes beet red as Steve raises his hand and the little fake sprig of greenery above both their heads

Steve leans forward, and presses his lips to the warm apple of Eddie’s cheek.

He pulls back, and Eddie’s face is somehow redder. “Happy now, Munson?”

He’d meant for it to come out jokingly, willing to play it off if Eddie pushes back, but his voice comes out warm and low instead, with genuine curiosity colored through it.

Eddie gulps audibly, then breathes out a soft laugh, “Peachy.”

dividers from @steddiecameraroll-graphics!

[shedidntevenswear]

i think we're sooooo used to the general conversation being slut-shamey or super nitpicky about why they aren't a good fit (usually about how she isn't a good fit for him) any time taylor starts getting linked with any man publicly that it just feels kind of refreshing and fun that all i've really seen from swifties AND from the sports world is just some good-natured egging on of a cute flirtation. like all the sportscasters are just like "WOOO GO TRAVIS" and good naturedly teasing him and all the swifties are just giggling about how its been a decade since she's dated an american and i think everyone is pretty clear on it being very early days of what is just a casual thing for the moment. no forecasting about how long it will last, no jokes about the songs she'll write about him if they break up. feels like in middle school when you would push your friend towards their crush and their friends would do the same and you'd all kind of giggle and root it on.

[engardeitsme]

The Hunted, Haunted and Forgotten - Part 9

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Pairing: Battle Maniac x fem!Reader

Word count: 6.7k

Summary: You re-evaluate your relationship with a certain Rabbit. Or do you...? Doesn't matter, it's swamp time!!!

A/N: (ouuggghhhggh i'm sick so translating this chapter was major struggletown. if you find any mistakes/weird grammar- no you don't<33) finallyyy we spend some time w the eldest wooo been about time!!! also ofc i have them go to the barren swamp, i'm nothing if not predictable at what i pick from the game canon lmaoo not that there's much rabbit canon to begin with..but you know what i mean. anywayy i hope you have fun reading xoxo i'm going back to bed

***

Part 9 - A rabbit-shaped elephant in the room

Massimo actually kept his word as far as your clothes were concerned. However, you were still suspicious... It seemed too coincidental that you only got them back once the jokester couldn't think of any new lines to tease you and Matteo about your "teacher look".

It made your ears burn with embarrassment as you left their place in the evening, all the more grateful to finally be on your way home. The events surrounding Moonlight Town had left you feeling more exhausted than ever before in your life, and you would have loved nothing more now than to just lie in your bed and sleep for a couple of days.

...At first, anyway.

For a single day, to be precise.

Because on the second one, you were already pacing up and down your apartment, restless. Which in itself was no surprise really, as you'd never been one to sit around and do nothing. This time, however, you couldn't just make do with some spontaneous cleaning or another night-time supply run, no; your mind could only think of your next treasure hunt, positively itching to jump right back into action.

And not just for the sake of your necklace, which was actually the thing that worried you the most about all this - and made you want to bang your head against the nearest wall to get it to work like it should.

Because what the hell was wrong with you that less than two days had passed and you were already missing their company! It just had to be the disease messing with your head, you couldn't explain it any other way...

You had never minded being alone before. In fact, you had often sought it out even, when your life had once again come crashing down on you. When you had woken up as a young girl and, instead of going to school, had had to play housekeeper because, even years after your mother's death, your father had still refused to accept reality. When you had looked in the mirror and the only thing looking back had been utter exhaustion. Skin as dull as if it had never seen the sun. Eyes as tired as if they had seen half a lifetime already.

The luxury of dreaming had been taken away from you at an early age. And by the time you could have allowed yourself to do so again, when your father had finally found it in himself to start parenting you instead of the other way around, you'd been in that state for too long for it to have changed anything. And so you had simply resigned yourself to what was and would never be. Leaving Krat. Getting a decent education and later a good paying job. A home of your own. Finding friends, a life partner. Maybe starting a family even...

You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

Leave it to me, someone who already has one foot in the grave, to start developing hopes and aspirations... while the damn world is ending, you thought sourly.

But all the sarcasm in the world didn't help. Neither did the repeated attempts to remind yourself that you were once again about to throw all your moral principles overboard. Over the past few weeks, you had simply become too accustomed to what it meant not to be alone... So much so that your own little apartment had never seemed so big and empty as it did at this moment. That its silence had never been louder.

And that on the third day, you turned your chair towards the door so you wouldn't miss the Rabbits leaving you another message.

They did so the following night. The two days you had to wait before your next meeting felt like an eternity, but finally the time had come, and as you left your apartment in the morning and made your way to their headquarters you were almost giddy with anticipation. The rabbit ears of your mask bobbed in time with your lively steps as you skipped across the rooftops and finally turned into the finishing straight...

Only to immediately slow down as soon as you spotted Massimo and Vito standing at the gate to the plaza.

"Don't tell me Matteo's had a change of heart", you exclaimed incredulously when you were within earshot, returning Vito's greeting with a wave of your own.

"Hard to believe, eh?", Massimo replied. "Miracles truly never cease! Even when the world's going to hell in a handbasket. So!" He clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Ready for your maiden voyage with the best duo??"

Vito gave an amused snort, while you just raised an eyebrow. "You know, I have a feeling the others might have something to say about that..."

"And that would be well within their rights and would have my full support! Freedom of speech is very important to me after all."

"Uh-huh...", you said skeptically, but couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

"Not that it would change anything, of course", he continued, "because a fact is a fact, really. Big brother and I are the perfect team! I'm a once-in-a-century artistic genius, he rather tries his hand at writing. I'm an extremely talented speaker, he's more the silent type. I'm an outstanding cook, he manages to mess up fried eggs even-" At that, Vito swatted at him, but Massimo seemed to have anticipated it and dodged skilfully. Then, raising his index finger in the air, he added: "Besides, everyone knows that a good team always needs both a close and a ranged fighter!"

"...You use a spear."

"Indeed I do!"

"So how exactly does that make you a 'ranged' fighter...?"

"You can throw a spear, no?"

"Which you never do", you said dryly.

"Ah, pish-posh." He dismissively waved his hand. "Details! Wholly irrelevant. At the end of the day, it's the very possibility that makes me the best ranged fighter among us."

You opened your mouth... and then closed it again. He actually got a point there. Huh.

Sensing his triumph, Massimo put a heavy arm around your shoulder. "Now, let's try that again: Are you ready for the best day of your life, girlie??"

It was impossible not to be infected by his excitement, so you finally relented: "As ready as I'll ever be", and grinned at the cheers that followed.

The "best day of your life" ended up falling just short of expectations, but it was still exactly what you needed: a distraction. From your overwhelming loneliness and the ghosts and demons inside your head. But also from the slight twinge of disappointment you had felt after Massimo and Vito had introduced themselves as your companions for the day...

It was a completely different story, however, the next time you went to the rendezvous point, just over half a week later - and were once again greeted by the "best duo". It wasn't that you were opposed to this grouping; they were both pleasant enough company and quite entertaining. And yet you couldn't help but dwell on Matteo's continued absence... Not that you were complaining, no, definitely not. After all, it had been your wish from the start to get a little time off from the moody Rabbit.

But you did find it a little strange. Never once had he missed an opportunity to annoy you during the treasure hunts. And then he suddenly made himself scarce? No announcement, no nothing...?

Of course it was quite possible that Massimo had simply gotten through to him during their last argument, and that Matteo had decided to do his brothers and sister the favor of slowing down a little. And stop overworking himself. Seemed only logical, right?

Right. If it wasn't for that very evening, when you and your two companions returned to the Town Hall after completing your mission, to find your welcoming committee reduced to only one person. No sign of Matteo anywhere, not a trace. Giulia eventually explained that he was in his room. A trace at last, but you still didn't feel satisfied, not in the slightest. For the scarf wearer remained a no-show throughout the entirety of your stay at their headquarters. Even though there was literally no chance in hell that he had missed your arrival. The walls of this building were barely soundproof, you knew that only too well by now.

Which made the whole thing just plain weird. And also completely out of character for him, the stickler for their rules and traditions, which inevitably got you thinking again... (Of course you could have just asked the others, but you had quite enough of being the butt of even more jokes, thank you very much.)

For all intents and purposes, you should be happy about this unexpected development! Overjoyed, really! By all appearances, it seemed that Matteo had finally begun to trust you and realized that it wasn't necessary to keep you under constant surveillance. Which was only to be welcomed; after all, you had been fed up with his incessant antagonism towards you since day one.

So then why were you so damn preoccupied with this whole ordeal??

The answer to that question was both simple and incredibly confusing, at least in its implications. And you got it about a week later, when Matteo didn't turn up to the next treasure hunt either, let alone to the subsequent celebration of yet another successful mission. Again, according to Giulia (who was finally on the mend and happy as a clam at high tide about it), he had disappeared into his room some time ago. Again, you didn't get to see him, not once. For the third treasure hunt in a row. For more than two weeks now... Which, in your opinion, could only mean one thing:

He was avoiding you.

A conclusion that immediately sent your brain into overdrive as you lay in your bed that night, staring up at the dark ceiling. Earlier, you'd still dismissed the whole thing as bad timing, not wanting to jump to conclusions. A misinterpretation. A misunderstanding born of your conflicting emotions as of late. But now...? You felt your suspicions all but confirmed and couldn't even entertain any other potential explanation. No, Matteo was definitely avoiding you, for whatever reason.

Not that it bothered you...

But it bothered you.

A lot.

Even though part of you knew how stupid that sounded. But the other, offended part dug its feet in the dirt, crossed its arms in defiance and refused to just accept it without a word of explanation. No, you definitely deserved an explanation. And if he wasn't there to give it to you, well, you'd just have to work it out for yourself!

Of course you could think of a number of things that might have caused the Rabbit to behave as he did. But only one event kept coming back to you over and over again - even though you had done everything in your power over the last few weeks to erase it from your memory.

The mere thought of it made your cheeks glow. It seemed to you like the opposite of a dream, an anti-dream. A haunting. For the more you tried to remember a dream, the more it slipped away. In contrast, you did your best to forget your little rendezvous with Matteo in Giulia's room, but that only seemed to make it all the more present...! Argh, it made you want to tear your hair out!!

Suddenly you wondered if he felt the same. Was that why he was avoiding you? Had you done something wrong? No, as far as you remembered (and by now you remembered better than you would have liked...) he was the one who had set everything in motion. You had just reacted to it! And besides, the next morning everything had been back to normal, no? Why else would he have returned your knife? None of it made any sense!

Unless...

Your breath caught in your throat as another unpleasant thought occurred to you. The Rabbits may have installed filters in the Town Hall to neutralize these strange "spores" that they claimed were responsible for the Petrification Disease. But even the best filters were useless if you were almost nose-to-nose with an infected person, right...?

You sat up with a start, heart racing. Your mouth was suddenly bone dry and your ears were ringing, but you didn't notice. Instead, your sight was directed inwards as an unsettling realization dawned on you.

Maybe Matteo was sick... and you were to blame.

But the others would have let on about that, wouldn't they? You could hardly imagine them making their usual light-hearted jokes otherwise. And only pretending in front of you the entire time. No, they did have a wry sense of humor and were also quite cunning... but this just didn't seem like something they would do, at least judging by how you'd come to know them over the past few weeks.

...Unless they'd been kept in the dark, too. But on second thought, that seemed even less likely. After all, that was Matteo's whole thing! "Keep the family safe, whatever the cost". He would never hide this from them and risk them catching the disease as well. This was also aided by the fact that he only seemed to vanish into thin air when you were around... Which, in the end, made your theory that you had infected him rather unlikely.

And yet you couldn't help but continue to worry...

While feeling like the world's biggest clown.

Because wasn't that exactly what you'd set out to do? Wasn't that your bloody plan all along, to infect the Rabbits one by one and make them pay for what they had done to your home, to your friends and family? And now you were worried that the worst of them might have caught it??

You bit your lip until it hurt. Your heart sounded like wild drumbeats in the darkness of your empty room.

So far, you had been quite successful in ignoring the rabbit-shaped elephant in the room, namely that your feelings towards the Brotherhood had obviously changed quite a bit... And you spontaneously decided that you would continue to ignore it. Your emotional turmoil was already complete, without you trying to deal with what exactly it meant that you had somehow grown attached to a bunch of lunatic criminals.

And speaking of emotional turmoil...

To distract yourself and give the floor of your apartment a little rest from your nervous pacing, you found yourself back on the rooftops of Malum the following night - but you'd better kept on torturing your floor.

Because, of course, things happened as they had to, and you ended up being too distracted from your distraction. Which increased your clumsiness tenfold, and resulted in you missing a ledge while climbing a building and falling two stories onto a pile of wooden crates. You were lucky that there'd been no Carcasses nearby... But that was where your luck ran out. For it seemed that you had dislocated your right shoulder in the fall. Or, well, it felt that way at least. Aka it hurt like all hell.

So you weren't quite as happy this time when you returned home to find a new message from the Rabbits, setting your next meeting for tomorrow.

When it was time and you were making your way through the narrow back streets early in the morning, you carefully rolled your shoulder. The pain that followed made you grit your teeth. You still couldn't believe you'd been so careless. Never before had you made such a mistake during your nightly supply runs, and all because of...

All it took was a vague allusion and you felt your stomach twist into a tight knot.

So much for that "distraction"..., you thought grumpily as you slowly lowered your arm again. In the end, all this stunt had gotten you was a busted shoulder/arm combo on top of your already existing stomach ulcer.

As you walked on, you did your best to steer your thoughts in a different direction. Away from Matteo, away from illness and death... Which kept you busy until you finally turned the last corner and raised your eyes towards the wrought-iron gate...

And the misshapen red spot in front of it...

You stood stock-still for a moment. Your heart was pounding in your throat as you stared at Matteo and Vito, who, judging by the latter's rapid hand movements, seemed to be engaged in an animated conversation. Which, of course, fell silent as soon as you were within earshot.

"Good morning", you greeted as you joined them, taking great care not to stare at the red scarf wearer any longer than was polite. Staring openly, that was; out of the corner of your eye was fair game, you decided.

Not that there was much to see, really, the Rabbit seemed to be his old self. Which didn't have to mean anything, of course. After all, you yourself were the perfect example! At first glance, no one would suspect you of having the Petrification Disease either, nor on second glance.

But him being here, back in action, was already enough to ease your mind. So much so that even his usual sarcasm could not dampen your spirits.

"If there's one thing you can count on, it's your tardiness."

His words made you feel strangely giggly, which you tried to hide with a quiet cough. Still, Vito tilted his head slightly, and you thought you could also feel Matteo watching you a little more intently afterwards.

Once again you felt your cheeks grow warm as you began: "Well, that's because..."

I had to take another detour because I was so worried about you that I wrecked my shoulder, which makes climbing a bit difficult now. You're welcome, you finished in your mind. But you certainly didn't plan on rubbing his nose in it, so you sincerely hoped that any climbing would be kept to a minimum today...

"...there was something I had to do before I came here", you finally concluded aloud, and then quickly added: "A-anyway, what are you doing here? I thought Moe- err, I mean, Massimo was-"

"Busy. Spontaneous change of plans."

That was all he said. Vito signed something, but he too was met with nothing but stony silence before the scarf wearer suddenly turned around and entered the Town Hall Plaza. The bigger man chuckled softly and eventually followed him.

You, on the other hand, didn't move an inch. Instead, you called out: "Wait, where... where are you going?"

During the last treasure hunt, you had told Massimo and Vito about today's destination. And you had assumed that they'd told Matteo as well. So you had no clue why the Rabbit was now walking in the exact opposite direction to where you were supposed to go... After all, the only way to get to the Barren Swamp was by tram (unless they were planning on climbing the mountains, which you very much hoped they weren't).

"Shouldn't we...", you began, pointing behind you - but then Vito suddenly turned around and motioned for you to follow them.

You slowly lowered your arm again, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, but then just shrugged and did as you were told. You would be lying if you said that you weren't at least a little curious by now about what your companions were up to...

Each of your steps made a smacking sound on the damp stone. Judging by the cloudy, grey sky, it looked like it was going to be another wet day. You even thought you could feel the occasional raindrop already.

Great..., you thought, scowling. Just what you and your useless arm needed. That everything got even more slippery...

Contrary to your expectations, Matteo did not walk towards their HQ, but kept to the right, eventually heading for the dilapidated building next to it. Some stairs, half blocked by all sorts of rubbish and debris, led to an old wooden door surrounded by crumbling brickwork. Your eyebrows moved towards your hairline as you tilted your head back and looked up at the building. However, you couldn't make out much more than the wooden skeleton of a roof against the backdrop of the huge rock formation and the foothills of the massive city walls.

When you looked back down, Matteo had reached the top of the stairs and was now opening the door at its end. The opening behind it was so dark that it seemed to lead absolutely nowhere, making you hesitate once more...

Then you suddenly noticed Vito signing something in your direction. This was followed by a resigned sigh from his brother before he translated concisely and in a monotonous voice: "This is a shortcut."

Very concisely, considering how long Vito had been talking. And also judging by the annoyed look he gave Matteo the next moment.

"What?", the scarf wearer said, shrugging his shoulders. "Told you, I'm not gonna play translator all day. That's Moe's thing."

Now it was the bigger man's turn to sigh and shake his head disapprovingly, but by then Matteo had already turned away and disappeared into the creepy doorway. You watched as Vito soon did the same. Then you took one last longing look at the brightly lit windows of the Town Hall, which seemed so much more inviting than the dark hole in front of you... before you swallowed and finally followed the two Rabbits inside.

As you plunged into the darkness, your eyes struggled to adjust. But eventually you spotted your companions crossing the empty, dusty room and then disappearing into a corridor further back. You hurried to catch up and soon found yourself surrounded by cold, damp stone, and the "corridor" turned out to be a tunnel carved into the rock. Your footsteps echoed off the walls with a slight delay, making you sound like a small army. The only light in here came from scattered, dim ceiling lamps, hung so far apart that most of the time you were still moving in the dark.

You asked yourself for what had to be the hundredth time now how this could be a "shortcut". A shortcut would have been the hotel above, but you knew about the rather... tense relationship between the Rabbits and the hotel guests, so you very much doubted that was your destination.

Your way to work had always been through Elysion Boulevard. There had been talk of extending the tram line to the Malum District, but unfortunately that had never happened before everything went to shit.

Sometimes you wondered if it hadn't all been inevitable, all that chaos and ruin... However, you didn't mean that in a "Last Judgement" sort of way, like those religious nutjobs who saw it as the just punishment of all sinners and non-believers. No, you were rather thinking of how quickly Krat had transformed from a simple fishing village into a booming metropolis thanks to the industrial Puppet revolution - and in such a short time that you could still remember the very first models. And where there was a quick rise, well... there was usually also a quick fall. And a steep one.

Speaking of rising...

You were torn from your thoughts when the tunnel suddenly opened into a small, circular room with a stone spiral staircase leading upwards. Your two companions didn't hesitate for a second, but immediately began to climb. The ceiling lamps remained behind you, but here and there were small window openings in the outer wall that provided some light. As you passed by the first one, you curiously looked outside. Thick bars and cobwebs obstructed your view, but it didn't really matter, there wasn't much to see anyway. At least, if you didn't count the endless ocean.

You gave the tall man in front of you another puzzled look, but decided to keep your questions to yourself. After all, you imagined you would find out soon enough what they were up to.

And so it was. After a climb that almost robbed you of all feeling in your legs, the staircase finally spat you out into the open - and into the middle of a paved courtyard lined with lush greenery.

However, you only caught a brief glimpse of it, as Vito suddenly stopped in his tracks and you promptly collided with his broad back. You quickly apologized, but fell silent again when Matteo hissed at you to shut up. He too had paused, his arm raised, evidently listening for any danger. But eventually you saw him relax again and give you the all-clear.

As it turned out, the staircase you had just climbed had been in one of the towers of the city wall and had led you straight to the hotel, or at least very close to it. You couldn't help but glance anxiously at the huge building as you slowly followed the two men across the courtyard, staying close to the walls.

For as long as you could remember, Hotel Krat had been a constant companion, albeit a distant one. Due to its prominent position above the city, there was virtually no place in Malum where it wasn't part of the eternal backdrop. That was how you got to know each other, and how you remained (to this day, anyway). After all, people from the slums weren't exactly its preferred clientele, which made you feel terribly out of place up here, even now.

And extremely on edge. For you knew who was said to be residing in the creepy building: Giuseppe Geppetto, the "Father of the Puppets" himself - and public enemy number one according to the Rabbits, who saw him as the cause of all evil, especially the Puppet Frenzy. A reasonable assumption, in your humble opinion. And something that made the brightly lit windows of the hotel look like spotlights to you now. You couldn't help but imagine what would happen if you were discovered; an army of killer Puppets seemed like the most pleasant outcome...

Vito, ever so attentive, noticed your growing nervousness and gestured for Matteo to translate for him again. Perhaps the latter was also a little tired from all the stair climbing, because to your surprise he complied without a murmur.

"It's fine. Been a long time since one of them showed their face around here."

For the first time, you took a closer look at your surroundings and noticed just how neglected they looked. Evidently he was right, and it had indeed been quite a while since anyone had looked after this part of the premises - not that anyone could do so now, nor would it be of much use. You very much doubted that Krat would see any tourists in the near future...

"But I still wouldn't recommend sightseeing", the scarf wearer added dryly.

At first you wondered if he had read your mind... Then you realized that you'd been so lost in thought that you'd stopped walking, and rushed to catch up with the two Rabbits once again, your head hot with embarrassment.

Still, you couldn't resist another curious glance through a high wrought-iron gate you passed soon after. It was rusty and overgrown with ivy, but it still radiated the splendor and wealth for which Krat had become known in the years before the disaster.

The area behind the gate was so overgrown that it could only be a small, forgotten garden, in the middle of which you could make out an odd-looking tree. The trunk was strangely deformed and bulbous, and it looked as if someone had grabbed all the branches at the top and bent them so that they now grew in a tight bundle towards the ground.

For a brief moment, you thought you saw a golden glow emanating from them...

Before you blinked, and all that remained were bare branches and a strange sadness in your heart.

And then you had already walked past it and rather focused your attention on the path ahead, for shortly afterwards you reached another set of stairs, only this time it went steeply downhill. You swallowed. The wind up here was no joke. It had also begun to drizzle by now, making the stone beneath your feet glisten dangerously. You had never been more grateful for a stair-railing (and for the fact that the two men in front of you didn't have eyes in the back of their heads to watch your pitiful descent...)

In the end, however, all went well and you arrived safely at the bottom of the stairs, where a huge stone archway partially blocked your view of the other side. It was barricaded with various crates and wooden slats, but that wasn't much of an obstacle; the climb only made you feel a slight tug in your arm which was rather easy to ignore and cover up. Immediately, you sent another prayer to the heavens to keep it that way for the rest of your journey.

The other side of the gate finally brought you to the foot of the hotel grounds. You had to lean back quite a bit to still have a full view of the huge building to your left. Its entrance was out of sight, one step above; the steep stairs from earlier had apparently led you straight to the exit, filling you with happy relief. You couldn't wait to leave this place behind. It wasn't as infested with Puppets as one might have expected, given its famous guest... but you would be very careful not to let your guard down just yet. After all, you were still in enemy territory.

But what isn't enemy territory nowadays..., you thought grimly, before picking up the pace so as not to fall too far behind your two companions, who continued on as if this was just a nice little walk in the park.

To your right, the hotel grounds fell away in a steep cliff towards the sea. Neatly arranged bushes and scattered trees lined your path, their gnarled branches swaying back and forth. But all you could hear were the wind-swept waves below. A broken carriage lay beside a disused fountain, the light from a street lamp right next to it made its spokes gleam and reflect in the puddles on the ground. You were glad that the horses had found their final resting place somewhere else at least...

Your gaze moved on to the building just beyond. It spanned the entire length of the square, but also served as an exit to the hotel grounds, having a large gate in its center. One of the banged-up gate wings had been torn from its hinges and the other was barely hanging on. But you didn't care much about that at the moment, nor about the many posters and wooden standees surrounding it, advertising the "Marvelous Puppet Show!", a circus festival celebrating the Grand Exhibition - whose visitor numbers had fallen far short of expectations in the end. For... obvious reasons.

Your legs automatically began to move a little faster, now that you were finally this close to the long-awaited exit...

When suddenly Matteo stopped dead in his tracks and you almost ran straight into him. At the very last second you managed to swerve out of the way, immediately following it up with an angry: "Hey! How about a little heads-up next time??"

"How about a little more distance next time?", the Rabbit countered.

Unable to think of a fitting response, you just crossed your arms in a huff, while he tilted his head back to look up at the tall building in front of you. For a long while. A suspiciously long while...

Oh no..., you thought in alarm as you felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

"You can't be se-", you started as soon as it dawned on you what he was planning, and raised your arm to point at the passageway. "There's a perfectly good gate right in front of us, why the hell would we go over the roof?! And don't tell me it's another 'shortcut'."

He didn't. However, he also didn't say anything else.

He simply ignored you.

You felt the familiar anger boiling up inside you. Suddenly, it was a mystery to you how you could ever have felt genuine happiness at seeing that bastard safe and sound. All you wanted to do now was grab his stupid scarf and wring his neck with it.

"No. No, you know what?", you said, walking straight past him and towards the gate. "You do you, I don't care. I'm staying down here. We'll see which one of us gets the last... laugh..."

You trailed off before falling completely silent. Because just then you'd stepped under the archway, which allowed you to take a look at the other side. At the rectangular courtyard with its many standees and garlands and fairy lights strung across it, making it almost look like an arena...

An impression only reinforced by the gigantic Puppet standing right in its middle, perfectly staged.

It had its back to you, so all you could make out were two massive arms with claw-like hands, a red coat(?) and a huge cage strapped to its back. But that was all you needed to know, really. Especially after you spotted something dangling between the bars of the cage... Something that looked suspiciously like human limbs...

It was unlikely that the Puppet could hear you over the now fairly moderate rain, and yet you didn't dare move too quickly as you made a carefully considered retreat.

"You were saying", Matteo greeted you upon your return.

"Oh, shut up. You could have told me about that thing..."

"Where's the fun in that?"

You rolled your eyes. "Whatever, man. Why don't you just kill it? What happened to-" You cleared your throat and tried to match the tone of his voice. "-'The only good Puppet is a dead one'?"

Vito was highly amused by your terrible impression - Matteo less so.

"We don't have all day", he said curtly, before raising his arm and pointing the grappling hook at the roof...

Which immediately made your heart sink into your stomach.

"Wait, what about me?", you blurted out.

And felt instant regret. Your ears were burning with embarrassment, but you'd rather be embarrassed about that than your fucked-up shoulder. Especially since admitting to that would also mean admitting that Matteo had been right all along about your all-nighters before missions... And you'd really rather not.

"You've got two perfectly good arms, no?", the Rabbit replied nonchalantly. "How about using them."

Then his grappling hook made a loud whirring sound, and you could only watch with your mouth hanging open as he zipped off towards the roof.

He knew. He fucking knew, and now he was taking the piss out of you, all smug and gloating and-

"You waiting for an invitation or something?"

I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him...!!!, kept running through your head as you let your eyes roam over the facade of the building.

The irony of it all was that if you'd been in top form, climbing it would have been a piece of cake; you could see plenty of spots that would have given you both an excellent grip and foothold. As it was, however, you couldn't even see yourself reaching the first row of windows. And that wasn't even you being pessimistic.

So much for the prayer earlier, you thought morosely, yet entirely unsurprised. If you were a Saint, you would have also left this cursed place a long, long time ago...

Resigned, you closed your eyes and mentally prepared yourself for the humiliation of having to ask for help...

When suddenly you lost the ground beneath your feet.

It happened so quickly that all you could do was let out a startled squeak as the world lost its balance for a moment... until it came to a halt just as quickly, and you found yourself in Vito's arms. Or rather his arm, for the man was so strong that he only needed one to carry you. Nevertheless, you immediately wrapped your own anxiously around his neck.

At first you were simply speechless. And when your mouth finally remembered how to form words, you promptly swallowed them as the Rabbit pushed himself off the ground all of a sudden and landed on a crate next to the broken gate. This was repeated a few more times as he single-handedly made his way up, climbing over balustrades and pulling himself onto balconies. With each leap, your heart beat faster and your grip on his neck tightened even more, while he didn't seem the least bit out of breath. Your legs dangled uselessly and yet they still felt like pudding at this point. How you were going to stand upright in this state, without falling off the roof, was a mystery to you...

A mystery that would forever remain unsolved, however, for as soon as you reached your destination, Vito showed not the slightest inclination to let you go, oh no. Instead, he simply started walking, and was soon carrying you across the roof.

"You... You really don't have to do that...", you laughed awkwardly.

But the Rabbit only huffed and waved your concerns away with his free hand. At the same time, his other hand gripped your legs a little tighter, as if to say: "Don't worry, I gotcha."

You wouldn't be surprised if your face was so hot by now that the rain on your mask was evaporating. You quickly turned it away from the Rabbit and instead looked in the direction you were going. Your position meant that your field of vision was relatively limited, but that didn't matter. You had no desire to take another look at the horrifying Puppet down below (which apparently couldn't see you up here, thank heavens), and the other direction, where Matteo was walking, was even less appealing.

It felt like hours until you finally rounded the courtyard and reached the other end of the rooftops, where Vito did not hesitate long before tightening his grip on you once more and then leaping down the building. The jolt that went through both of your bodies when his feet hit the ground made your teeth chatter. As he set you down, he thankfully held out his left arm to support you, otherwise you would undoubtedly have collapsed on the ground. This much unexpected courtesy briefly made you forget the embarrassment you had just experienced...

At least until Matteo suddenly appeared right next to you and grumbled: "Did you really have to carry her across the whole bloody roof? It's not like she can't walk..."

Vito simply chuckled.

As soon as you regained your footing, you let go of his arm and moved the fingertips of your outstretched hand to your chin and away again, a gesture you had come to recognize as "Thank you". You didn't know if the eldest of the Rabbits knew about your injury too. But either way, you appreciated his help and wanted to respond in kind.

There hadn't been many opportunities for you to try out what little sign language you'd picked up so far. So when Vito didn't react straight away you immediately felt self-conscious. Had you made a mistake? Or misinterpreted the gesture even and offended him...?

You had just opened your mouth to explain yourself when suddenly the Rabbit's shoulders began to shake with laughter. Then he returned the gesture, and you breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a giggle as he raised his big hand to pat you gently on the head.

Still smiling, you turned around and immediately caught sight of Matteo who'd already walked ahead, towards the open city. Cerasani Alley, to be precise; or, well, what was left of it anyway. A first taste of what would await you in the "City of Tomorrow"... and all the horrors that now called it their home.

The thought made you gulp, smile vanished in an instant. You had a feeling that moments of levity would be few and far between from now on...

***

i wanna be carried around by the eldest tooo, these last two chapters are pure wish fulfillment on my end lmao😭♥️

anyway, while writing this chapter i had a let's play in the background and when the guy got to the malum town hall i thought "wait!!! you missed something!!! you didn't explore the building to the right!!!" 💀💀💀 i literally forgot that i made that up for my fic lmaoosjdjdkd (i blame my cold)

thank you sm for readingg, i hope you enjoyed it!! feedback is welcome and very much appreciated~

[peachhcs]

something funny?

so high school au (emma grace x gabe perreault)

advanced french 2 and econ don’t mix. gabe has no idea what’s going on, but luckily emma does!

2.1k words

wooo first real fic of the au!! this was actually so cutie to write and if anyone has any requests/ideas for emma and gabe pls send them in! :))

au masterlist

emma's gaze slid towards the dark-haired boy sitting beside her furiously scribbling down work for a class that most definitely wasn't for advanced french 2. the graphs and tables for sure screamed economics or something similar because she remembered very well doing those a few months ago before she graduated.

the blonde tore her eyes away from his work and tried focusing on the lecture at hand, but for some reason she just could not pay attention no matter how hard she tried. all emma could think about was the amount of work she needed to do once class was over while praying that a table was open somewhere in the library.

god knows everyone's trying to get ahead before the semester quite literally devours them. the professor started leaving her desk to mill about the classroom while she spoke and the boy beside emma hadn't even looked up once—too focused on econ.

the other thing was that emma was feeling gracious today, so she nudged the boy's leg so he'd at least look like he was paying somewhat attention when their professor walked by. his gaze shot to hers and emma just motioned towards their professor about to breeze right past them. gabe's head snapped right and he immediately hid his econ papers as the lady walked by.

"if you're not paying attention next time she walks by, i'm not helping you out," emma whispered. gabe's eyebrows rose, amusement on his features.

"jeez, okay. didn't ask for help in the first place," the boy shrugged as he returned his focus to his other work. emma studied him for a few moments trying and failing on getting the graph right.

an uncontrollable giggle left her lips at the boy's poor, poor attempt. his head snapped back in her direction, another eyebrow raised, "something funny?"

emma immediately shook her head despite the smile still tugging on her lips, "not at all."

"something must be funny if you're laughing," gabe sneered back. he's had a long day—being up since 6am for morning skate—and the last thing he needed was some girl he didn't even know making fun of him.

"i just think it's funny watching you do econ in an advanced french 2 class," the blonde shrugged lightly.

"it's not like i need to pay attention away. already know french."

emma blinked while the boy turned back to his laptop. why on earth was this kid in advanced french if he already knew french? "you already know french?"

"mhm. fluent in it, actually," gabe's cocky smile almost made emma wanna slap it off him.

"then why are you taking french if you already know it?"

"because i can and i want to. i think it's funny. do you know french already?" there went that stupid eyebrow raise again when gabe looked at her.

"i do, yes," emma mumbled.

"so why are you taking french if you already know it?" his little head tilt and stupid smirk didn't sit well with the girl. she didn't have time to respond though because the professor walked past their section again, eyes probably trying to find the culprits who were talking in class.

"see? didn't have to help me that time," god, he was insufferable already. maybe emma shouldn't have started interacting with him. life 10 minutes ago was a lot better than life now.

"don't you have time to do all this work later?" she didn't know what possessed her to keep talking, but something about this boy intrigued her as much as he frustrated her.

"not really, no. early morning skate then actual practice right after class. by that time it's late and i'm lazy," gabe shrugged and it all finally clicked for emma.

he was a hockey player. made sense now. no wonder why he never paid attention in class.

"don't you like get banned from playing if you don't keep up with your work?" emma didn't know that much about how sports worked here, but she knew if her brother didn't keep up with his classes, he couldn't swim.

"i keep up with my work, don't worry," gabe snipped a bit. this time emma raised her own eyebrow while trying to keep in another pitiful laugh.

"mhm, sure. tell that to your econ class."

the professor walked past their section again, definitely trying to catch emma and gabe whispering. the two watched her stalk by before heading towards the front again. the blonde's eyes were on gabe's homework again, working through the problem in her mind. she immediately saw his issue—he had the wrong numbers on his graph which messed up his calculations. it was an easy fix.

"your numbers are wrong," again, despite the boy's annoying attitude, she was still feeling gracious. her curiosity about him was too high not to help.

"huh?"

"on your graph. it's supposed to be by .02. that's why you aren't getting the right answers," emma pointed out briefly.

gabe studied what she just said and looked back and forth between his numbers and graph, slowly realized she was in fact right. "oh," he mumbled.

"next time i won't help you," emma smirked.

"not like i asked for your help in the first place," the hockey player mumbled as he started redoing his entire graph with the right numbers.

the two didn't talk again until the last ten minutes of class. gabe was still furiously working away on his econ homework while emma took occasional glances in his direction. she thought he was stupid for waiting until last minute to finish it, especially in another class.

he nudged her leg first this time and her gaze snapped to his, "hey. what else you know about econ?"

he probably had about ten more problems left with no finish in sight anytime soon. emma stopped another pitiful laugh wanting to escape her lips.

"a decent amount. why?" the girl raised her eyebrow.

"probably a long shot, but any chance you could help me out later? i really gotta finish this assignment it's already two days late and if i don't, coach will pull me," gabe almost begged, but his pride and ego were too big for that.

the look on his face and big, puppy dog eyes were hard to say no to for emma despite everything in her telling her no. she'd feel bad if she didn't, especially when his mistakes were probably easy fixes. if only she wasn't so nice sometimes.

"i can give you my number and you can text me. i'll be in the library for a few hours after class," emma motioned for his phone.

"really? you'll actually help?" gabe seemed surprised she said yes.

"i feel like i don't have a choice, plus econ is easy for me. you probably have stupid mistakes that are easy fixes," she started punching her number into the boy's phone.

"how long will you be at the library for?"

"i don't know. until 6?" a good three hours seemed like enough time for emma to grind out her three page essay.

"shit, i have practice then. any chance we can meet at like..9? i know it's inconvenient, but i don't have any other time," he was such a hard no. even if emma didn't know him nor did she even really care for him, she felt bad not helping.

"9 works. just text me," the blonde nodded.

a genuine smile painted gabe's lips as well as a somewhat relieved look, "thanks so much. i really appreciate it. i'm gabe by the way."

"emma," the girl smiled back.

—

man, she should've said no. emma didn't think he was coming. it was 9:15—fifteen minutes late—and no text or anything. she left to her dorm two different times and there was still nothing from the the boy. the only people in the library at this hour were her and the few who just didn't have a social life and completely studied their asses off at any second they got.

in some ways, emma was that person just a bit more dialed down. at least she didn't spend hours in the library.

she checked her phone again and nothing. a sigh escaped her lips because she really thought gabe cared a little bit somewhere inside of him to not completely flake.

when all hope seemed lost quick footsteps came up behind emma's table and suddenly, gabe's frame was beside where she sat.

"i'm so, so sorry i'm late. practice ran over and then my friends had to talk to me for..i'm sorry," his apologize was unexpected, but appreciated. emma managed a small smile.

"really thought you'd flake on me," she laughed.

"i was gonna text, but then i forgot. i'm sorry. i didn't mean to waste your time," gabe rambled on as he sat down and dug his things back out.

his rambling actually made emma feel a little bad, especially because he looked so flustered like he ran all the way here from the rink. "it's fine. don't worry about it. i'm here all the time anyway," she shrugged him off to not make him feel as horrible.

"i respect the pjs," gabe commented on emma's flannel pj pants and boston college swimming sweatshirt that was definitely tyler's that she stole.

"oh, thanks. had to be comfortable, you know?" the blonde flushed some. gabe nodded in agreement.

"i did a few more problems, but i'm still kind of..lost, i guess. i dunno. i don't really know how what i'm doing wrong," he pushed his paper towards her feeling semi-embarrassed he couldn't do what should've been simple calculations and graphing.

"let me see," emma pulled the paper closer. she scanned her his work trying to find what the issue could be.

"hold on, i get it. you're not multiplying the right things which i think is giving you the wrong numbers. trying going row x row," emma instantly saw what was wrong.

gabe did as told and five minutes later, everything made a lot more sense than it did before.

"oh, i get it now. i was calculating wrong," he mumbled.

"see? easy fix. the other answers should make sense now," emma nodded, smiling.

"how are you so good at this? i feel like i'll never truly learn econ," gabe's gaze met hers again briefly before they both looked away.

"oh, i don't know. i've always been good at like math and stuff," doing math had always been emma's strong suit. growing up her friends always went to her when they were stuck on a problem.

"i wish i had that kind of talent. it's never made any sense to me," the boy mumbled, smiling successfully after completing all the other problems. "does this look right?"

emma glanced the page over, nodding, "yeah, looks good. the graphs are the hardest part i think because if you don't get those, everything's wrong."

"thanks, i appreciate the help. sorry again for being late," gabe met her gaze again—his eyes looked flushed and tired like he hardly ever slept. that feeling of pity returned in emma's stomach the longer she stared at him.

"it's no problem, really," her lips pushed together into a small smile.

"do you think i could text you again whenever i need more help in the class?" the boy wondered as he packed his things back up.

emma studied him again. those books about the athlete looking for help from the smart, quiet girl was seeming a little too real at the moment. the look on gabe's face though said otherwise like he wasn't trying to mess with her. he looked genuinely interested in the help she could provide him.

"why don't we like meet every other day or something and i can like tutor you. maybe help you understand the class a bit better?" the girl suggested which honestly sounded crazy coming out of her mouth because did she really have time to be tutoring this hockey player? apparently.

"like for real?"

"yeah like for real," emma laughed.

the smile on gabe's lips reappeared when he realized emma wasn't joking with him, "o-okay. yeah, thanks. i'd appreciate that. is it okay if we meet at 9 then? i would do earlier but i like don't have time."

"yeah, 9 works."

"i promise i'll try not to be late, but i can't promise it," the two shared a laugh.

"don't worry about it. see you in class then?"

"yeah, see you," her and gabe left the table together, giving slightly awkward waves to one another as they went in different directions to leave.

it was safe to say both of them didn't stop thinking about the other all night.